An Eternal Christmas
by AsteriaKimeNymar
Summary: A story about how my version of the Fire Emblem cast celebrates Christmas. Focuses pretty much on the Eternals and the decoration of the tree. Crosses between Archanea, Elibe, and Tellius. Also includes Pokémon, but not enough to make the story a crossover. There's only yaoi if you really want to see it that way, but it wasn't the original intent. Merry Christmas!


I did NOT expect to get this posted in time. Well, for some it may be a little late, but here on America's east coast it's still Christmas Eve.

No commentary this time because I didn't have the time to write it all out.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these Fire Emblem or Pokémon characters. If I did...well, you can see what would happen. But I do own most of the Eternal names, the Eternal concept in general, and the moonstar idea. If there's anything else...I probably won't notice unless someone tells me.

Now, in the words of the jolly fat man in red:

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night

* * *

"Aaaand that goes there…"

"Armeia, you're making no sense. Why would it go over there?"

"Because I said so, that's why!"

"…I can never understand you…You're completely wrong."

"No I'm not!"

"Says the little boy with glitter all over his face."

"Rikeo! Tell Lycen to stop being a bully!"

"That's not exactly my job, Armeia. Talk to Ike about that."

"You're not helping!"

"What about me?"

"Iiike! Lycen's being a bully again!"

"No, I'm just stating the truth."

"Come on, Soren, don't be so harsh on Rickard."

"…Alright, alright. But only because you're the one who said it."

"Thank you!"

"What are you guys doing in here?" Marth cocked his head at his little brother, who happened to somehow be covered head to toe in glitter, before turning to Soren and Pelleas. "Should I be worried about him?" he asked, pointing to the little princeling.

Soren scoffed and shook his head. "Armeia here doesn't understand proper placement in the least bit."

Rickard stomped his foot. "It's not like you would be any better!"

"Remember who was a girl in some lifetimes," Roy rebutted, coming up from behind Marth and placing his hands on his shoulders. "Girls know these things a lot better."

Pelleas crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "You're the same way as Lycen, Aeris. Yet you seem to know little to nothing on that matter."

The lord narrowed his eyes. "Being a girl doesn't automatically mean that they know it WELL, just that they know it better than boys."

"That still doesn't explain why Armeia is covered in glitter," Marth said, sighing.

"Why don't you take a look at THAT, then," Soren said bitterly, pointing to a round, golden…something…sitting over the fireplace. "I don't even know what it is, let alone do I think it belongs there."

Rickard latched onto the wind sage's arm, staring up at him with his trademark puppy-dog eyes. "But I wanted to make something special that didn't have magic involved…"

Roy tilted his head a little bit and squinted at the object, walking around and leaning back against Marth. "It looks to me like it would be a lot better on the actual tree, rather than sitting on the mantle like that. All you have to do is give it something you can latch a hook onto, and you're all set."

The little blunet perked his head up. "Really? Okay!" He grabbed the soon-to-be ornament and dashed out of the room, past the three swordsmen. "Thanks, Aeris!"

Ike blinked at the departing boy. "Where does he get all of that hyperactivity from?"

Soren failingly attempted to wipe all of the glitter from Rickard off of his sleeve, only managing to transfer it to his hands, making him groan. "It's just how Armeia always has been." He looked to one of the other doorways. "Where is Mhiken and that star?"

"Uh, wait, are we talking about Marth's Mightyena, or…"

"He means Volug," Pelleas answered. "He, Kiose- well, Leonardo-, and Edward are supposed to be the ones bringing in all of the ornaments. Mhiken said he had a special star for the occasion, so that's what we're mostly waiting for, considering we could easily make basic ornaments ourselves."

"Ah." He ran a hand through his hair. "Am I the only one getting a little confused with all of the names? It's either one person going by either their current name or their first name-often at the same time- or a Pokémon sharing the same name as an Eternal."

"…We're not Eternals, remember?"

"I don't get why it matters," Roy said, wrinkling his nose. "Hikamiche aren't that different from Eternals. There's barely a power difference."

Marth sighed. "The line has to be drawn somewhere. But I know what you mean. There shouldn't be one group that marks the border between the Eternals and the demigods. They should either be one or the other. And most Hikamiche might as well be Eternals, considering how powerful they are; the gap between us is so marginal it shouldn't make so much of a difference." He nodded to Pelleas. "You especially, Rikeo. You were conceived during the Ancient War, yet you fall in the category of the Hikamiche simply because you were born right after the war ended."

"And considering you're one of the only ones who actually had two gods as parents, you should definitely be up with us, if not above that," Roy added.

Soren tsked. "If you ask me, I think the gods may have just done it out of spite because your mother sided with the Underworld."

The redhead gave him a pointed look. "She's the Goddess of Darkness, Lycen. OBVIOUSLY she was going to side with Hades."

"You're saying that about the woman who was also the mother of your childhood friend. And lover."

His cheeks lit up immediately with the last two words. "At least I had a lover. And it's not like that automatically makes Adsin a certain way. The two are completely different people. My opinion of one shouldn't be based off of that of another, whether they're related by blood or not."

"Since when have you gotten all philosophical, Aeris? That's supposed to be my job." Erk leaned back against the opposite doorway and crossed his arms, Roshea standing right next to him with his hands behind his back. "Though you've quite the point. One shouldn't be judged simply because their parents are a certain way. Remember that none of the children whose parents sided with the Underworld joined them. We're talking Lairen, Narcine, Adsin…"

"I'd say the best example we have would be Roshea here," Guy said, coming up behind and clapping a hand on the knight's shoulder. "He's angelic and pacifistic while his father is the sadistic and chaos-loving God of the Underworld. Complete opposites, right here."

Marth nodded. "Mm. Aren't we lucky, then?"

Soren softly leaned backed into Ike's embrace, resting his head against the vanguard's chest. "I'll take it your lost right now," he said quietly.

"Just a little," the elder blunet admitted. "Namely with that hika…whatever."

"Hikamiche. 'Border blood'. The gods' children born between 8,000 and 7,000 years ago, from the end of the Ancient War to when the Eternal language was replaced by the 'ancient' tongue." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Not many people remember them all that much. It's always either the Eternals or demigods. Never the middle group. Yet some of those in the middle group are the ones who are the most powerful and memorable. …The Dark Rider is one of them."

"'Dark Rider'? You mean Wolf?"

"Actually, yes. In both versions of the legend- past and present- he's the Dark Rider, Ricshe Mitis. Yet no one remembers him as Hikamiche, only as a battlefield demon."

"Mar-Maaar!"

Marth turned around sharply and smiled as he scooped up Tiki, who was dashing into the room, decked out entirely in an elf costume, hat and all. "What's wrong, Aisha? Is Nayxen messing with you again?"

"Uh-huh!"

"How many times do I have to tell you people to stop calling me Nayxen?" Xane huffed, following lazily behind the little manakete. "And I was NOT messing with her…too much."

"I honestly find that very hard to believe, Xane," Erk said skeptically, raising his eyebrows. "Especially considering your past records."

"Come on, this is Aisha we're talking about here. How can I not pick on her at least a little bit?"

Pelleas scoffed and shook his head, a grin on his face. "She's also the daughter of the God of War. Is doing such a thing really a smart decision to make?"

"…Xaney's a meanyface," Tiki mumbled, sinking into Marth's arms and resting her head in the crook of his neck, her arms around him.

"Oh, come on, you know I'm only teasing." The freelancer took the girl from the king and kissed her forehead. "I know you know that I don't really mean to make you upset in any way."

Her frown quickly turned into a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Yup-yup!"

"…Waaaait a minute, were you just messing with ME?"

"Maaay-beee…"

"Oh, I see how it is!" He took the little girl and play-threw her onto the deep green chair near the doorway, descending on her with ferocious tickle-attacks.

"N-no! X-Xaney! St-sto-Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Tiki cried, trying to catch her breath and push the other dragon's hands away, her hat falling off of her head.

Marth chuckled at the scene. "It's truly adorable how those two get along sometimes."

Erk nodded. "Mm. Whether they're as siblings or as lovers, they always seem to get along, no matter the situation."

"Sounds a lot like us, doesn't it, Ascerae?" Roy asked, looking up at the elder teen, then back to the two manaketes, noticing Navarre leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, arms crossed and eyes closed. The redhead's smile turned into an expression of pure curiosity. "Huh? How long have you been standing there, Lairen?"

Navarre opened his eyes to meet the teen's gaze. "Since Armeia left. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed until now."

Guy tapped his chin. "Well, you're always so quiet, it's hard to tell when you're here and when you're not."

"Just proves how different the Scarlet Swordsman and the Saint of Swords are," Roshea noted, smirking at the man.

"Hey, I'm not THAT talkative! Matthew's ten times worse."

Erk scoffed lightly. "You mean Serra's ten times worse. And you're going to end up getting pranked for that, Micah, no matter who you are to him, you know."

"Come now, Zephyr, I've learned how to handle him by now."

"Sure you have, Guy."

"Wuh?!" Guy sharply turned around to find a Santa hat shoved on his head over his eyes. "Waugh!"

Matthew scooped up the green-haired trueblade and threw him over his shoulder. He nodded to the others, most of whom were trying to keep from laughing. "If you'll excuse me, I've a bit of…business, to take care of."

Guy pulled the hat off of his head, managing to make loose strands of his braid stick up from static. He banged a fist on the assassin's back as he was being carried away. "Matthew, put me down!"

"Nah, I'm good."

"What…is…?" Wolf blinked at the pair as they passed him on his way into the room. He slowly turned to the rest, only half understanding the situation. He pointed at them over his shoulder. "Why was…?"

"Don't ask," Roshea answered simply, waving a hand to dismiss the conversation.

"Ricshe," Navarre started, stepping forward, "is there a possibility you know where Mhiken and Kiose are at the moment?"

"Woah woah woah wait just a minute here!" Roy waved his arm and pointed at Wolf. "YOU'RE Ricshe?! Like, Hikamiche son of the Underworld?!"

Amusement flashed in the horseman's eyes. "You're just now figuring this out, Aeris? I would have expected you to get this by now, considering the whole 'Dark Rider' bit."

A soft hum escaped Soren's mouth. "Told you," he whispered to Ike, who looked down at him and chuckled softly, pulling the wind sage closer.

"And to answer your question, Lairen," Wolf continued, "Nixius is helping them bring in the boxes, so they should be in here soon."

"You mean we'll finally get to decorate the tree?!" Tiki cried, jumping up out of the chair. She threw her arms up in glee. "Yaaay!"

Pelleas sighed. "Well, that certainly took them long enough." He looked to Marth. "Should someone go get Armeia?"

"Oh, I don't think that's going to be necessary," the younger blunet answered, a smile playing at his lips. "After all, Armeia knows how to show up whenever and wherever he feels the need to appear."

"…One minute, Ricshe," Xane said, apprehension in his eyes. "Did…I just hear you say Nixius?"

Soren tensed in Ike's arms. "Nixius…?"

The vanguard furrowed his brow. "Nixius? Who's that?"

"Hikamiche son of the Moon Goddess," Erk clarified. He let out a breath before continuing. "…He's known as one of if not history's coldest and most brutal supernatural hunter." The man swallowed, hesitating. "What he's known to do to his victims…believe me, it's not that pretty. …I would know."

"But if he's here…" Ike looked to Marth. "Why wouldn't…?"

Marth sighed. "I'm not entirely sure why, but…he's changed over the course of this lifetime. He's not the cold, heartless Hunter he used to be." He shook his head. "Most if not all of the supernatural members in the Archanean League would have been dead back in Aurelis if that wasn't the case."

"Aurelis?" Roy's eyes widened slightly. "Are you trying to imply that Nixius is…?"

"We've got boxes here! Coming through!"

The group looked to one of the doorways to find Edward carting in a large cardboard box filled with ornaments. He staggered past Wolf, Erk, and Roshea, all of whom had to move out of the doorway, and plopped the box in front of the fireplace. He panted and rubbed his arms, hunched over. "Oh, my poor arms…I'm never doing this again."

Navarre scoffed. "You're a swordmaster and Caladbolg's rightful owner. How is it you can handle that sword but not a box full of tree trinkets?"

The young teen gave the elder swordmaster his trademark you've-gotta-be-seriously-joking face. "Do ya not know how heavy this thing is?! Caladbolg's got nothing on it. And, like you just said, I'm a swordmaster. I've got LOWER body strength, not UPPER body strength."

Leonardo shook his head at the other teen, placing two of the same-sized boxes down next to the one. "You complain far too much, Edward. Maybe you should work on that upper body strength a little, then."

"Ugggh…it's not my fault you seem to be all brawny-ish…"

The sniper gave a wry smile. "Well, I guess that's just one of the very few upsides to being born a half-mortal-half-immortal vampire, isn't it?"

Edward flinched slightly. "Sorry, Leo…Keep forgetting how you feel about that."

Volug raised an eyebrow as he clapped a hand on the brunet's shoulder, a box held on his hip. "Alright, Edward, what did you do to Kiose to make him depressed this time?"

Leonardo wrinkled his nose. "What do you mean, 'this time'? You're saying that like it's an everyday thing or something."

"Actually, it kind of is," Pelleas mumbled, turning his head away.

Edward shrugged the wolf's hand off and stuck his arms out at him, bewildered. "How can you even do that at all?! And you're only using one hand, at that! Just…how?!"

Volug chuckled lightly, setting down the box. "Considering you're the only mortal carrying any of the boxes, you're naturally going to be far weaker. Even Lycen can do better, and his upper body strength is through the basement compared to most other god-children."

Soren tsked and closed his eyes. "I'm a strategist, not a fighter. And even when I do fight, I use magic, not physical weapons. You shouldn't automatically assume I'm physically powerful simply because I'm an Eternal."

"Yet you fling those chakram around like they're nothing?"

Roy's jaw dropped at who said that, walking through the doorway with the final box. "Why is it always the last person I expect it to be?!"

Marth raised his eyebrows at the lord. "You didn't really think I was talking about Vyland, did you?"

"What? Oh, NO. I could NEVER see him as Nixius. That's just not ever happening."

"Then who did you think I was referring to?"

Wolf cocked his head. "You two can communicate in your minds; how can you even be asking these questions, let alone why are you asking them out loud?" He turned to the newcomer, who had just set down the box. "You're hearing this, right?"

"Ricshe, I've seriously noticed that you talk way too much when you're around me," he said, a grin on his face. "To think that it could even be possible for someone like you to talk too MUCH."

Roshea chuckled. "It just proves the effect you have on him, Sedgar."

"Hm. Seems to be the case, doesn't it?"

"Speaking of chatterboxes," Leonardo started, looking around the room, "where is Armeia? He's the one person I would expect to be here the entire time."

"FREEDOM!"

"Give that back! You little- ARMEIA! RADD!"

"Rickard! Drop it! Right now!"

"Well, I think we know now…" Erk mused, suppressing a snicker.

And, as if on cue, the aforementioned pair dashed into the room, Radd, dressed as an elf himself, minus the hat, holding a variance of a Thoron tome close to his chest, and Rickard, still partially covered in glitter, with what looked to be a pendant cord clutched in his fist.

The thunder sage's eyes widened in alarm, all amusement erased from his face. "Please don't tell me that's Enreke's tome!"

Sedgar's expression hardened as he stepped towards the boys, namely Rickard. He stopped in front of the princeling and held an open hand out. Rickard flinched slightly before dropping the pendant- or, rather, locket- into the elder horseman's palm and backing up.

"U-um, Erk," Radd stuttered, approaching the man. "I think you should take this." He shoved the tome at him and hid behind Roshea as its owner stormed into the room, a fuming Tomas right on his heels.

Ike furrowed his brow. "Isn't he the guy Merric is always seeming to have arguments with? Ellrean, was it?"

Erk sighed and approached Ellrean, holding the tome out to him. "Looking for something, cousin?"

The teen took the tome and nodded to the elder thunder sage, his anger only partially evaporating. "Yes, well, maybe that child should learn to not be messing with other people's belongings."

The younger redhead shrunk behind Roshea and shakily nodded his head. "I-It won't happen again. I promise."

"Come now, Enreke, scaring little boys?" Roy asked, jumping back and cowering behind Marth when the blond shot him a death glare. "Don't eat me!"

Tomas gave him an entirely weirded-out expression. "What are you sm- Y'know what, I'm not going to even ask that with little-little kids in the room…" He turned to his elder brother, who approached him and placed his locket back in his hand. "Thank you." He glared at Rickard and muttered under his breath, "Little booger…"

"Am not!" the boy tried to retort.

"You didn't kill them, did you?" Caesar asked, reaching the doorway with Julian. He heaved a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair. "My gods, Radd, don't freak people out like that."

"Just proves you shouldn't be stealing things from scary sages," Julian said, taking a step back from and stealing an apprehensive glance at the elder teen.

Rickard laughed nervously, backing further away. "Y-yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

"So, are we finally all in one place?" Volug asked, sounding somewhat impatient.

"No, we're still missing Matthew and Micah," Marth said after a sigh. "Like always."

"What do you mean, 'like always'? Matthew's the one slowing people down, not Micah," Ellrean rebutted.

"Oh, please," Xane teased. "You're only saying that because it's Micah."

The younger thunder sage tsked and crossed his arms, a light blush creeping up on his face. "Don't be ridiculous. She has nothing to do with this."

Roy snickered. "Saying 'she' instead of 'he' just made it all the more obvious." He gave the elder teen a devious grin. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?"

Ellrean's blush deepened, making his whole face a bright red. "S-stop spouting such nonsense! B-besides…I'm straight, thank you."

The lord mustered the courage to step from behind Marth and up to the blond, poking his arm. "But if he WAS still a girl, you'd totally still be interested, wouldn't you?"

He shot him a glare that probably just scared Jingle Cats into hiding. "Shut it!" He snaked his arm out to slap the redhead, but missed when the younger teen quickly stepped back and ran for cover back behind Marth. "Coward!"

"Come now, cousin," Erk scolded. "You're the elder out of the two of you; act like it."

Ellrean growled before conceding. "Fine. Whatever."

The elder thunder sage sighed. "That's better." He turned for the exit. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've a need to collect our friends so we can actually get started here."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? You have any idea what could be going on between those two?"

Erk turned around and gave the elder thief a pointed stare. "Okay, the last time I had to get them both for something, Matthew had Micah tied to a chair and was, for a reason I haven't even considered wanting to know, smearing shaving cream all over his face. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine getting them out here."

"Do we really have to wait for them?" Tiki whined, slowly shuffling towards the boxes.

Xane huffed lightly and tapped his chin, looking at the tree near the window. "It might actually be better for us to start now, considering we're talking about a big, ten-foot tree here."

"Oh nooo!" Rickard entwined his hands in his hair and made a beeline out the door. "I forgot my ornament!"

Soren scoffed and shook his head, stepping back from Ike. "To think he ever even finished it, when you see that he lost so much glitter."

"Most of it was lost running," Radd clarified, nodding his head.

"Oh, is that all?" the wind sage asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Marth chuckled lightly. "I guess it's time to get started then, isn't it?"

It wasn't until the tree was about a quarter of the way decorated that Erk came back in, partially dragging Matthew and Guy behind him.

"Well, it's about time!" Roy cried.

"Should we be worried about what was happening this time, Zephyr?" Leonardo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Erk scoffed and shoved Matthew forward, almost knocking the assassin over. "Let's just say that I give Enreke permission to murder him."

Ellrean cracked his knuckles, taking a step towards the man. "Works for me."

Guy winced and moved between the two, arms out to increase the distance between them. "Come on, it's Christmas! Do we really need to do this?"

"Yes, we do."

"Enreke, please," the trueblade pleaded, trying to give his best impression of Rickard's puppy-dog face.

The blond hesitated, locking gazes with Guy. He sighed and stepped back. "Fine. Whatever," he grumbled.

"I told you he'd still be interested," Roy whispered to Marth, who lightly chuckled.

"Pokémon coming through!" Rickard called, covered with a new layer of glitter and parading into the room with many of the creatures on his heels.

"Tini!"

"Leaf!"

"Swel!"

"Bruff!"

A small smile rose on Tomas' face, holding his arm out for his Swellow to land on. "Negima."

Radd ran a couple fingers through the feathers on the chest of the Rufflet on his shoulder. "Here to join the fun, Syri?"

"Brruf!" the little bird chirped.

Ellrean stared down at the Jolteon at his feet. "Hm. It's the Pokémon that shares my name." He looked back up and glared at Matthew. "To think you'd have anything to do with someone like him."

Guy gave him a hard stare. "Enreke, please."

"Flare!" Cimia yipped at his feet.

Soren hummed softly. "We're such a big band of misfits, aren't we, Cyra?"

"Peon," the Espeon cooed.

With the help of the Pokémon, the tree was finished in less time than expected. All that was left was the star.

"Mhiken," Pelleas started. He glanced at the Mightyena at Marth's feet and waved a dismissive hand. "Not you. But please tell me you didn't forget the star."

"Bree!" barked Nexia.

"I didn't forget it," Volug reassured, reaching into one of the boxes. "But I'm honestly surprised Edward didn't break it when he just plopped the box down on the floor."

"Well then, don't trust me with overly important stuff!" the brunette swordmaster complained.

Leonardo scoffed lightly. "Come now, Mhiken, you should know better than that by now."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said, waving a hand. He pulled out a star that shone in a semi-dull green.

Tiki's eyes shone in delight. "It's amazing!"

"Who's going to be putting it up?" Roy asked.

Erk tapped his chin, a smile rising on his face. "I think we should let our newest member do it."

"Pika!" Tomachi agreed.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Caesar asked. "Do you mean the youngest one here, or…?"

"I think he's talking about Roshea," Marth clarified, glancing at the psychic. "He IS the youngest Eternal, and the only one known to have been born after the Ancient War. I think it would be most fitting to give him the privilege." He turned to the rest. "Are there any objections?"

"That would certainly make sense," Soren agreed.

Cyra nodded. "Espi."

"I think Little Roshea deserves the opportunity," Sedgar said, a soft smile on his face.

"Oh? You're actually being nice to an Eternal?" Rickard raised his eyebrows at the elder horseman, very surprised.

"Tini?" Victini cocked his head, looking between the two.

The man ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I've realized during this life just what it is I'm doing whenever I…kill. I've learned how it feels to lose someone in cold blood. …It's made me see how wrong I've been in the past 7600 years."

Wolf's face brightened up slightly. "Nixius…"

"Aww…" Tiki pouted.

Xane lifted the girl up into his arms. "Come now, Aisha, you'll have centuries longer to be a child. They don't really have that option."

"Oh…alright," she said, straitening up in his arms.

"Leafi!" Lycen- well, the Leafeon Lycen- yipped up at Roshea, wagging his tail.

Roshea hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not he should accept. "I…"

"Oh, just take it, Roshea," Tomas complained to him, pushing him towards Volug and the star. "I honestly doubt you're going to ever have another opportunity this lifetime to do this."

"Swellow," Negima chimed in.

The boy smiled and nodded his head. "Right."

"Here." Volug placed the star in the knight's hands, and it immediately started to glow a bright red-orange, filling the once-darkened room with its light.

"Moonstar," Navarre noted. "One of the rarest types of material you'll ever find."

"Really?" Radd cocked his head, then looked up at Caesar. "Isn't that what you make personalized weapons out of?"

The hero nodded. "And the color is the reason for it. It shines to match its bearer. That's why it's rare for two people to share the same exact glow. …I've never seen it shine like that before, though."

"It means he's a bright, burning soul," Marth said. His smile widened. "One whose will and faith will never be extinguished, no matter what one does to it."

"That's crazy…" Julian lightly pushed Rickard to the side, closing one eye. "You seriously need to get that glitter off of you, Rickard. You're blinding people with it."

"Wha- oh. Whoops." He scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin, making the elder thief slap his forehead and groan.

Roshea spread his wings and lightly stepped off of the ground, bringing the star up to the top of the tree, carefully placing it on the tip, where the light lingered for a moment before lighting up to a bright golden yellow, lighting the tree itself along with it.

"Woah…" Edward gawked at the tree, entranced by its light.

Leonardo lightly chuckled at the swordmaster. "You've always such a habit of being taken over by bright, beautiful lights. Ah well, it's worth it."

A soft hum came from Pelleas' mouth. "You really meant it when you said you had a special star, Mhiken."

"What, you thought I was lying?" the wolf asked, giving the dark sage a friendly smirk.

"That's incredible," Ike said, softly entwining his fingers with Soren's. "Makes me happy I get to spend Christmas here with you guys."

The wind sage smiled gently and settled back into the vanguard's embrace. "And everything up until now has been worth it, if it meant being able to be here like this now."

"Does this mean we'll be spending every Christmas like this?" Tomas asked his brother.

"…Yeah," Sedgar said quietly. "It does."

Wolf looked at the elder horseman, than back to the tree, a soft smile on his face. _Maybe this will be a bright lifetime yet._

"Hey, Guy," Matthew started, "don't take what happened earlier as an insult or anything. You know I don't really mean to make your life a bad one. …I guess it's moreso a way of getting other people to laugh and enjoy life, you know what I mean?"

"Mm. I get it," Guy responded. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I think everything leading up to this moment was worth it, anyways."

Ellrean stared at the trueblade and the way the light illuminated his face. A blush crept back on as his face as he sighed and looked back up to the tree. _Yeah, I definitely can't deny it. If he was still a girl, I'd so still want him back. _He chuckled lightly. _Life is never the way you want it, but at least there are bright enough moments to keep everyone going._

"I wish every Christmas was like this," Radd said softly, staring up at the star.

Caesar chuckled. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe we'll still have things this way for years to come."

"I hope so," Rickard agreed. "Times are always so depressing when people decide to take away the joys in life with war. …If only we could spread this hope to everyone who needs it."

"Right…" Julian ruffled the boy's hair. "Then maybe the world would be just a bit brighter."

Navarre stood by the little princeling, a soft smile playing at his lips. _Armeia…I know you'll be able to change things for the better in this world. And when that time comes, I'll ever be the shadow that protects you. This I swear._

"Hey Xaney," Tiki said. "Do you think everything will be better now? Because this makes me feel like the world is happier again, like it used to be before all of the wars that tore apart mortals and immortals alike."

Xane gave the girl a soft smile and a light kiss on the cheek. "I hope that's the case. This light just makes it seem like all our problems are gone. And I know that, together, we'll finally be able to set the world right. After all, who would want to lose a light so peaceful and precious?"

Roy closed his eyes and sighed softly. "This light reminds me of when I was a child in first life. It's so warm and bright…it makes me happy where we are now. It makes me feel like all the hopes and freedoms that once were are finally coming together again."

Marth chuckled lightly. "Those hopes and ideals are what lead the world to peace. And, with that peace, the final creation is one in which everyone, no matter their gender, race, or beliefs can live together in true harmony. Then the world will be whole once again."

"Nice job," Erk said quietly, clapping a hand on Roshea's shoulder once he reached the ground. "I don't think I've ever seen a light like that in my 10,450 years."

"Thank you," the boy responded. He looked up at the light. "What does this mean for us, now? Are we finally going to rid war from the world once and for all? I know it's a lot to ask for, but…I just feel like it's possible, with each and every one of us working together like this."

The thunder sage let out a short breath. "Yeah, maybe." His smile returned as he tapped the young knight's circlet, the gem in its center dully glowing. "And I know you're going to be one of the game-changers, Roshea, Son of Hades and youngest but most prodigious Eternal."

"Mm…Happy birthday, Zephyr, Son of Zeus and eldest, most powerful Eternal."

"And may the future be a bright one."


End file.
